Former Brooklyn Officials Surrender for Prison Terms

One man helped lead the State Assembly and controlled the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the largest such organization east of Chicago. The other presided over matrimonial cases in the borough, deciding hundreds of child custody or family finance disputes. Both left court in handcuffs yesterday to begin serving prison sentences for corruption.

The deposed officials, former Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr. and former Justice Gerald P. Garson of the State Supreme Court, surrendered voluntarily. They received their fates at separate hearings, conducted in succession before large crowds in a vast ceremonial courtroom.

The spectacle neatly book-ended five years of investigations, negotiations, intrigue and trials. In that span, the Brooklyn district attorney has sought to show that seats on the bench were bought and sold in Kings County.

“Two powerful men, Gerald Garson and Clarence Norman Jr., used the political and judicial systems to line their own pockets and the pockets of their cronies,” said the district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, at a news conference outside the courthouse. He concluded: “It’s fair to say that those who seek to make corrupt deals are constantly looking over their shoulders.”

But such prim finality was not to last. Before the evening was out, Justice Garson, whose sentencing drew demonstrators carrying signs that proclaimed “Corrupt Judges Got to Go,” received a stay of his sentence while he appeals.

Still, the two hearings yesterday closed a chapter in the long chronicle of corruption at the highest levels of power in Brooklyn and efforts to stop it.

Mr. Hynes has yet to demonstrate his most serious charge of judgeships for sale. The broad corruption investigation, led by Michael F. Vecchione, a high-ranking assistant district attorney, began with accusations that Justice Garson was taking payments to manipulate divorce cases.

Photo

Gerald P. Garson, a former justice of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, wept as he spoke before being sentenced for bribery.Credit
Pool photo by Mary Altaffer

When confronted with videotapes and other evidence in 2003, officials have said, Justice Garson agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He wore a wire to gather evidence that a seat on the bench could be purchased with cash payments to Mr. Norman and the county Democratic Party.

No such charges were ever brought. In four separate trials, Mr. Norman was convicted of extortion, soliciting illegal contributions from a lobbyist and stealing $5,000 from his re-election committee. He was acquitted of grand larceny.

Mr. Norman, 55, has already received two sentences totaling two to six years in prison. Those sentences had been stayed by the appellate court until last week. A third case on appeal could raise his total prison time to three to nine years, though his lawyers have indicated they will appeal to higher courts.

Avoiding the television cameras, Mr. Norman arrived at State Supreme Court in Brooklyn more than an hour before his hearing was scheduled to begin. He had read the morning papers and dressed in a dark blue business suit with silver tie and matching pocket square, and now sat among a half-dozen supporters, giving manly hugs, shaking hands, laughing and holding, well, court.

“I’m not Paris Hilton,” he said, noting that he expected to be sent to Rikers Island and on to a facility of the state’s choosing. Asked whether he had eaten a special meal on his last night of freedom, he was overheard to say, “There’s no last meal; I’m not going to die. Unless you know something I don’t know. Now I’m getting nervous.”

Approached by a reporter, Mr. Norman turned philosophical but no less jovial: “God is with me, my family’s with me, I have my health. Great day,” he said. “Eventually it’ll all be behind me. I can move on with my life. Thank God.”

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Then he gave a few last hugs, tightened his waistband and walked to the front of the courtroom.

“Mr. Norman is here to voluntarily surrender for the execution of sentence,” said his appellate lawyer, Richard E. Mischel.

Justice Martin Marcus said: “Sentence is executed.”

And with that, Mr. Norman was handcuffed and led out a side door. The entire hearing took 20 seconds.

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Former Assemblyman Clarence Norman Jr. on his way to a Brooklyn courtroom Tuesday morning.Credit
Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

“Bring in the next defendant,” a court officer called.

Mr. Garson, 74, walked in the back door, dressed in a gray suit, accompanied by his wife and other family members and followed by a crowd of demonstrators, among them women whose divorce cases he had handled. Convicted in April on charges of accepting bribes and official misconduct, he was facing a maximum of 15 years in prison. Citing his struggles with cancer and general ill health, his lawyers were seeking a sentence of probation.

The judge overseeing the case, Jeffrey Berry, called forward a woman who had lost custody of two children in Mr. Garson’s courtroom.

“First of all, for my former colleagues, of which Your Honor is one, I am profoundly sorry for the public scrutiny visited on the judiciary as a whole because of my conduct,” he said. Breaking into sobs, he proclaimed himself “appalled” by his own conduct, but said: “Despite the tabloid stories, I have never been accused of, charged with or convicted of fixing a case.”

After a long speech of his own, Justice Berry ordered a sentence of between 3 and 10 years in prison. Mr. Garson’s various medications were bagged for his jailers, and he was led away in handcuffs.

Outside, as the district attorney gave his speech and the demonstrators carried their signs, defense lawyers hurried a few blocks to the Second Judicial Department Appellate Division. Before sunset, Mr. Garson was freed to pursue his appeal.

Correction: July 5, 2007

An article on June 6 about court appearances by two former Brooklyn officials convicted in corruption cases misstated the age of one of them, Gerald P. Garson, a former State Supreme Court justice. He is 74, not 75.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: Former Brooklyn Officials Surrender for Prison Terms. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe